Some of us are feeling anxious; what can we do? This might help...

[victoryparty]

With less than a week to go until America elects Barack Obama president, it is understandable that a lot of us are feeling anxious. Will something go wrong? Will the bastards steal it again? Will McPalin connect on some strange "Hail Mary" pass so close to the Election that the officials won't have time to call illegal formation until after the votes are all cast? (sorry, I just watched the Maddow/Rendell piece with the football analogy).

Not long after McCain picked Sarah Palin, when she was still hiding out completely from the national press, the e-mail linked to below showed up in my mailbox. I think it's worth revisiting now as the campaign winds down. For your convenience, there is an embedded video of Obama's convention speech in Denver. I watched it again the other night, and I was just as moved then as I was in August. I think a lot of us didn't let the power of that speech soak in, because shock of the Palin pick came just 12 hours later.
If you haven't taken the time to watch the entire convention speech again since Obama delivered it 2 months ago (seems like 2 years!), I highly recommend doing so.

At any rate, remember to keep the focus on Obama and HOPE, not McPalin and fear/smear:

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/1300818-righteous-anxiety

I also like the author's concept of "righteous anxiety," which is a trap we must not let ourselves fall into during the closing week. That's not to say we shouldn't speak up about and point out McPalin's B.S., but that we should absolutely keep our eyes on the prize first and foremost.

As for me personally, I am planning on working for a few hours this Saturday at an Obama phone bank targeting Nevada voters. WE MUST STRESS GET OUT THE VOTE at least as much if not more so than McPalin's crapola.

This time next week, we will all be very happy.

VictoryParty08...coming soon to a location near you!

[LaurenG]

1. Excellent!

Kicked and rec'ed :kick:

[cbayer]

2. Good stuff, VP. I was uplifted by the video and by your message.

Thanks! :toast:

[GreenTea]

3. On voting............

Vote Early if You Can

You know those sons of bitches will give you broken machines on Election Day.

You know those sons of bitches will say, "You're not on our list - You can't vote."

You know those sons of bitches will make you wait 5 hours to vote - if you're Black

You know those sons of bitches will try to change your 'Obama' vote to 'Fascist Dogs.'

After you vote - check and see if it counted it correctly.

You know those sons of bitches will steal it if you let them SO DON'T LET THEM.

bartcop.com

[LaurenG]

4. This needs a kick - It's agreat OP

:kick:

[DLnyc]

5. Best way to deal with anxiety: work your butt off.

o Phone banks (calling volunteers/GOTV calls)
o Vote early if you can
o Help others vote early
o Travel to a swing state to help GOTV
o Provide transport/lodging for others traveling to your state
o Bring food to local volunteer offices (pizza, bagels, chips, etc.)
o Prepare to bring hot cocoa, etc. to those in line Tuesday, especially in non-early-vote states
o Provide childcare, other help for friends who are volunteering in various ways
o Lots more (use your imagination)

[Tuesday_Morning]

6. Love the suggestions from the link:

So these are my constructive ideas, if you have any interest:

1) At some point after reading this, take a minute to close your eyes
and picture Wednesday, November 5th, and feel your jubilation and
relief, the thrill that Obama has been elected as the 44th President
of the United States of America. Picture, in sensory detail, where
you hear of it, whom you're with, and how you feel. Let this feeling
linger with you; savor it. Build on it. Keep coming back to it. Make
yourself a DVD for your mind that you can pop in at any moment.

(Now, some of you might not feel comfortable doing this because…what
if he doesn't win, and I've gone and gotten myself all hopeful? 'I
don't want to feel disappointed.' Okay, but, come on, just this once,
can you risk it? The stakes are pretty high. What if you allowed
yourself to go all out and be crazy hopeful?)

2) If you find yourself freaked out by something else you hear about
her (likely to happen to most of us), notice it, file it away or toss
it out or whatever, but then take a deep breath (really - do this),
and bring yourself back to 1).

3) Start calling him President Obama. People will laugh; you'll laugh
too…then keep doing it. Make it a habit, of thought and of word.

4) Go to YouTube and watch part or all of any of the speeches from
the Democratic National Convention. Be uplifted by it.

[SpookyCat]

7. Thank you, that was helpful.

I'm starting to freak right out and I didn't even know how much.

:(

[NJRick1006]

9. One week from now should be a Wonderful Day!!

All of us (or at least 90% of us) can't wait 'til next Wednesday. Most of us here in the office are planning to take the afternoon and party at a local bar. Just think, this should be one of the greatest days in at least 15 years.

[renate]

8. BIG thumbs up from me! I strongly recommend reading that letter

I almost didn't click on the link because I don't have time to watch the convention speech, but I'm glad I did because just the letter made me feel much better.

I think our strength in this election has come from seeing what we do want--hope and change; as Election Day comes closer and we get more and more nervous about what might happen, some of us are scaring ourselves and are starting to operate from a mindset of fear. Which equals weakness, and loss of hope, and so we risk losing the very thing that has fueled this campaign.

Luckily, McCain's supporters have been operating out of fear this whole time. But I don't want to lose the advantage we have over them by joining them in that fear. So I also will try even harder to banish fear from my mind, and visualize only success and joy and a renewal for our country.

I really recommend reading this thread by ChipperbackDemocrat for support when you're feeling worried:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7612913
If you believe in positive visualization, it's fantastically helpful, and if you don't, it's still fantastic.

[Tuesday_Morning]

10. I love that!

Thanks